6 April, 2008

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Honored as Agency of the Year at this year’s Lynx Awards, JWT Dubai have attributed their success to network cohesion, future readiness and in-depth consumer knowledge.

The Middle East and North Africa network, which dominated the event, also pocketed the Media Grand Prix, as well as Gold trophies in poster, print, radio, interactive and the highly-coveted integrated category.

Commenting on their win, Chief Creative Officer for JWT Middle East and North Africa, Ramsey Naja says, “We’re frankly humbled by this. When both your business and creative results are so impressive, it shows a network that acts as one team across geographies and disciplines.

Chafic Haddad, Regional Executive Creative Director - JWT Gulf adds, “This has been an amazing year. With a mix of great clients, great talents, an amazing environment and positive attitude, you can't go wrong. It can only get better. I would like to salute the gorgeous people at JWT Dubai for making it happen. I'm honored to work with them.

Naja continues that part of the agency’s success stems from driving change in an industry that has refocused to target ‘people’ rather than ‘consumers’.

“The combination of creative excellence, strategic thinking and business performance has put us at the top of our game. Synchronizing these elements allows us to be a genuine network and a future-ready agency.”

According to Roy Haddad, Chairman and CEO of JWT MENA, the awards and the work itself showed that the agency operated as one team, with one voice, with a consistent delivery across all markets.

“Our mission is to create ideas that people want to spend time with. In order for that to happen, you've got to understand your audience and JWT has always prided itself on strong consumer knowledge. We’re cultural anthropologists first, advertisers second".

The JWT network was awarded across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia , Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Morocco for work across their stable of top Middle Eastern and multinational brands.

Their success at the Lynx comes in the wake of the network walking away with the lion’s share of MENA Cristal Awards last month, making them the most awarded network taking part in the event.

About JWTJWT is the most awarded agency network in the Middle East. With a heritage of brand-building excellence, JWT, which celebrates its 143rd anniversary this year, ranks as the fourth-largest full-service network in the world. It was the first agency to be associated with anthropology and the study of consumer behaviour. Its parent company is WPP (www.wpp.com).